How European destinations compare in an international safety ranking based partly on visitors’ personal experiences
Safety is one of the important considerations when choosing a travel destination, but what makes a country or city feel safe?
The 2027 Safest Places report by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) offers an interesting international perspective on these questions. Its annual research examines how travellers perceive safety in destinations around the world, combining their personal experiences with a range of international safety indicators.
European destinations feature prominently in the results. Iceland, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Germany all appear among the fifteen worldwide highest-ranked countries. Several European cities also achieve particularly strong positions, with Amsterdam ranking third worldwide and first in European Union.
Europe’s safest countries for travellers in 2027
| European rank | Country | Global rank | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iceland | 4 | 78.85 |
| 2 | Austria | 6 | 78.48 |
| 3 | Ireland | 7 | 77.87 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 8 | 77.09 |
| 5 | Denmark | 9 | 76.63 |
| 6 | Portugal | 10 | 75.63 |
| 7 | Norway | 11 | 75.39 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 12 | 74.73 |
| 9 | Italy | 13 | 74.27 |
| 10 | Spain | 14 | 74.06 |
| 11 | Germany | 15 | — |
The ranking also reflects differences in travelers’ perceptions, the survey results and the methodology used to calculate the overall scores.
Europe’s safest cities for travellers in 2027
European cities account for nine of the fifteen destinations in the global ranking.
| European rank | City | Country | Global rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zurich | Switzerland | 2 |
| 2 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 3 |
| 3 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 5 |
| 4 | Oslo | Norway | 6 |
| 5 | Venice | Italy | 8 |
| 6 | Dublin | Ireland | 11 |
| 7 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 12 |
| 8 | Barcelona | Spain | 13 |
| 9 | Paris | France | — |
Amsterdam has improved its position by one place compared with the previous year, moving from fourth to third.
Zurich is the highest-ranked European city, while Reykjavik and Oslo also feature prominently. The presence of Venice, Dublin, Copenhagen, Barcelona and Paris demonstrates that the results are not limited to smaller northern European capitals...
* What is the ranking based on?
An important aspect of the BHTP research is that it does not rely exclusively on conventional crime statistics.
The annual State of Travel Insurance research project, conducted in cooperation with Polymath Research & Marketing, examines the experiences and perceptions of American travelers.
The 2027 country survey involved 2,784 American travelers, who were surveyed between 14 and 28 July 2026. Participants evaluated destinations they had personally visited during the preceding five years.
The city assessment followed a similar principle. BHTP selected 38 popular international destinations and collected the opinions of more than 1,500 travelers. Participants could evaluate only cities they had actually visited.
This distinction is important: the results are not simply opinions about places people have heard about or seen in the media. They are based on reported personal travel experiences.
However, the research is not exclusively subjective. BHTP combines its own survey results with external international indicators to produce a weighted overall assessment.
Among the sources used are:
- Global Peace Index
- Numbeo
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- Global Terrorism Index
- Equaldex Equality Index
- GeoSure Global
- US Department of State safety assessments
- The Economist’s urban safety research
The country assessment also incorporates the average GeoSure Global scores of major cities within each country.
The city ranking uses a combination of visitors’ assessments and additional urban safety indicators, including information from Numbeo, The Economist and GeoSure Global.
Safety means more than protection from crime
Another interesting feature of the research is its broader understanding of safety.
Travellers were asked to consider several different aspects of their experiences, including:
- Protection against violent and organised crime.
- Safety from terrorism.
- Transportation safety.
- Health and protection against disease.
- Safety for women.
- Safety for LGBTQIA+ travelers.
- Safety for people of color.
This approach recognizes that a destination can be relatively safe in terms of conventional crime statistics while presenting other challenges to particular groups of visitors.
For example, transportation infrastructure, road safety, access to healthcare and the general conditions of public spaces can all influence how comfortable people feel when travelling.
